FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

SEMESTER 1 SESSION 2015/2016

BEKC 4741

MECHATRONICS SYSTEM ENGINEERING LABORATORY III

LAB 2

RHINO ROBOT MATERIAL HANDLING APPLICATION

GROUP MEMBERS : HOO LEK HUI B011210003

LEE CHEE KEEN B011210251

MARWAN QAID ABDULRAZZAQ MOHAMMED B011210269

FATIN NURSYAREENA ADEERA BINTI ROSLI B011210021

AHMAD BUKHARI BIN ABDUL MUJID B011210206

DATE : 30TH OCTOBER 2015

LECTURER : DR. MOHD SHAHRIEEL MOHD ARAS

 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this experiment is to learn the fundamental of a Rhino robot system
followed by designing a program to manipulate the movement of robot via both teaches
pendant and RoboTalkTM programming software. Apart from that, the intention of conducting
this experiment allows students to analyze and evaluate the performance of a Rhino robot
system. At the first place, students are introduced to the basic function of a Rhino XR-3 robot
followed by its specifications. Next, students are exposed to the simulation software -
RoboTalkTM programming software which is used for manipulating the robot movement. By
practicing the basic command tools in RoboTalkTM software, students are then required to
program the movement of the Rhino robot which that the robot is able to grip part feeders and
placed them onto a production machine followed by on the operating conveyor. The designed
procedure should be able to perform a repetitive pick and place application of a tray of
spherical object using a Rhino robot within the given time and limitations. Upon completing
the experiment, students are also required to determine the performance of the Rhino robot in
terms of efficiency and accuracy by using statistical method. Data is collected, analysed and
discussed in discussion section. Nevertheless, evaluation is done by lab instructor based on
students’ programming technique within pre-set time duration. Last but not least, a technical
report is written based on the requirements of the experiment and submitted to instructor at
the end of the lab session.
 CHAPTER 1

OBJECTIVES

1.1 Objectives

This experiment embarks on the following objectives. Throughout the experiment,

students are able:

1. To identify the major system elements of the Rhino Robot system.

2. To identify the equipment and tools of the Rhino Robot system.
3. To identify the limitation of the Rhino Robot system.
4. To design procedure to manipulate the Rhino Robot movement using teaches
pendant/console and RoboTalkTM programming software.

1.2 Scopes

Scopes defined as work boundaries which covers the necessary approaches to achieve
the objectives of the experiment. The scopes of this experiment are:

1. The procedure of the robot to perform the pick and place operation will be designed.
2. The robot will learn and be programmed by using the teaches pendant/console or the
Robot Talk programming software.
3. A fixed location is used to obtain the data or information for data analysis purpose.
4. Delivery of the product from the parts feeders to the tray and lastly to the conveyor
belt.
5. The whole transportation process has to be completed within two minutes
6. The whole transportation process has to be repeated several times to be able to
analyze the repeatability and accuracy of the Rhino Robot
7. Ten samples data will be collected to measure the accuracy, repeatability and
reliability of the robot with respect to the desired location.
8. The center point of the samples will be used to measure and calculate the error
occurred.
 CHAPTER 2

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Rhino Robot

Rhino Robot is a programmable multifunctional manipulator robot. It also can be said

as an educational robot where it is designed to move objects from one location to another
location through variable programmed motion to perform a variety of tasks. The robot is a
multi-joint arm, which have five degree of freedom that is powered by six PMDC servo
motors with integral gearboxes and incremental encoders [1]. Figure 1 shows an example of a
Rhino Robot.

Figure 1: Example of a Rhino robot.

The Rhino robot has a Mark III controller, which embedded together with it. It is an 8
axis controller with 8 input lines, 8 output lines and 2 auxiliary ports. The Mark III controller
able to interact with 8 TTL level input lines and control 8 TTL level output lines, other than
that, it also can control the two auxiliary ports which will provide 20 volts each at 1.5 amps.
The input line of the controller is pull up to TTL high and being ground to ease the operation,
it also did not require any power supplied to it. For the output lines, it provides TTL level
signals at 100 milliamps. The auxiliary port is used to control motor and relay that are needed
in the process [2]. The Mark III controller is integrated with power supplies m
communication, microprocessor logic, teach pendant support and the Input/output capability
and a software language in one unit. Figure 2 shows an example of a Mark III controller.

Figure 2: Example of a Mark III controller.

The teach pendant that attach with the Mark III controller that is supported with 32
keys and seven 7 segment display digits for visual feedback. It is easy to use and it is fully
supported by the RoboTalk software. It also able to manipulate and program the movement
the Rhino Robot without the usage of the RoboTalk software by using the learn function on
the Mark III controller. The movement speed of the Rhino robot also able to control in the
teach pendant to ensure a more precise movement can be programmed in the robot. Figure 3
shows an example of a Rhino robot teach pendant.

Figure 3: Example of a Rhino Robot teach pendant.

 Other than using the teach pendant to manipulate the Rhino Robot, it also can be
programmed using the software RoboTALK for Windows. It is a robotic control language
designed to communicate with the Rhino XR-series robot and also SCARA Robots. The
software is able the user to control and utilize all the feature of the Rhino XR-3 robot and the
Mark III controller. The robotic control language of the software is easy to learn because its
command set is short and easy. The software enables the user to monitor the movement of
each motor driver of the Rhino Robot, from that it able the user to program the movement of
the robot precisely from the motor driver movement data shown in the software.
 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Experiment Methodology

The experiment that will be undergone with the Rhino XR-3 Robot will be divided
into two parts. In the first part of the experiment, student is required to read and understand
the equipment and tools of the Rhino Robot with the three manual books provided. After
knowing the basic of the Rhino Robot, the students are required to label the parts of the
Rhino Robot and understand the construction and operation of XR-3 Rhino Robot. For the
last part of the experiment, the students are required to manipulate the movement of the
Rhino Robot and it is done by using software RoboTalk or using the teach pendant of the
Rhino Robot. Student is able to refer to the manual book to program the Rhino Robot to
move the product from the Part Feeder to the Production Machine and to the conveyor.
Below are the flow chart of the experiment part A and part B.

Figure 4: Flowchart of experiment part 1.

Figure 5: Flowchart of experiment part 2.
3.2 Experiment Equipment

1. Rhino Robot XR-3

2. Mark III Controller
3. Mark III Teach Pendant
4. Metal Component Part
5. Production Machine
6. Conveyor
7. Part Feeder
8. Computer with RoboTalk

3.3 Experiment Procedure

3.3.1 Part A: Identify the major system element, equipment and tool in the Rhino
Robot System

1. The specification sheets for XR-3 Robotic Arm and Mark III Controller was read and
the front panel of the Mark III controller was understood.
2. The rhino robotic systems was identified which include a mechanical arm, computer-
based controller, end of-arm tooling, Host Computer, teach pendant, program storage
device and external power source.
3. The labels for the switches, lights and connectors of the Mark III controller were added
in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Schematic drawing of Mark III Controller.

 4. The data about the construction and operation of the XR-3 robotic arm for each axis
was found by referring to the specification sheets and user manual of the XR-3 Rhino
Robot.

Table 1: Table for XR-3 robotic arm construction and operation data collection.

5. The data of the robotic arm construction and operation was checked and recorded.

3.3.2 Part B (i): Manipulate and Control of Rhino Robot XR-3 Movement with Teach
Pendant or Console

Conveyor

Rhino XR-3

Production
machine
Part feeder

Figure 7: Experiment setup for automated production system.

 1. The power supply of the Mark III controller for the Rhino Robot XR-3 was switched on.
2. The SHIFT and ERASE buttons on the teach pendant were pressed in order to clear the
memory that is set in the teach pendant previously.
3. LEARN function is pressed to initialize the learning mode of the Rhino robot to learn the
movement manually.
4. Each buttons on the teach pendant or console was tested one by one to determine the function,
movement or direction given to the Rhino Robot XR-3.
5. The buttons for the waist, shoulder, elbow, wrist flex, wrist rotation and gripper for the Rhino
Robot XR-3 were determine which were the joints of the robot.
6. The SOFTHOME was reset and the new SOFTHOME position was set by using the buttons
on the teach pendant or console.
7. The LEARN button was pressed when the robot reach for every new desired position or new
desired points. The button was pressed in order to let the robot learned the movement and
position of the encoder of each of the motors of the robots.
8. Step 7 was repeated until the robot able to grip the solid metal spherical object from the initial
location and put it at the desired location.
9. Button SHIFT and SLOW were pressed if necessary in order to get the solid metal spherical
objects to a more precise position. FAST button was pressed to make the robot speed back to
normal.
10. The SOFTHOME button was pressed follow by the LEARN button was pressed after the final
position was learned for learned for letting the robot to go back to the home or initial position.
11. The END button was pressed when all the desired movement and position was learned by the
robot in the learn mode.
12. Finally, the RUN button was pressed to allow the robot to manipulate the movement of the
robot according to the instruction and movement that was taught to the robot during the learn
mode.

3.3.2 Part B (ii): Manipulate and Control of Rhino Robot XR-3 Movement with
RoboTalk Programming Software

1. The power supply of the Mark III controller for the Rhino Robot XR-3 was switched on.
2. The computer with the Robot Talk programming software installed was switched on.
3. The Robot Talk programming software was opened for the purpose of programming the
robot.
4. The SHIFT and ERASE buttons on the teach pendant were pressed in order to clear the
memory that is set in the teach pendant previously.
5. The Mark III controller in the Robot Talk programming software was set to the TEACH
mode.
6. The program for controlling the movement of the robot was typed into the Robot Talk
programming software interface.
7. The HOME instruction was typed at the beginning of the program so make sure the robot start
at the initial position.
8. A loop function was added for providing the looping purpose.
9. The program for each movement and position of the encoder and motor to grip the solid metal
spherical object to the desired location was entered to the Robot Talk programming software.
10. Then HOME instruction was typed again after the movement instructions were completed so
the robot can return to the initial position.
11. The END instruction is typed at the end of the program to end the robot movement.
12. Finally, click on the RUN option to run the program that had been entered into the Robot Talk
programming software interface.
13. The graph paper was placed on a fixed desired position and the position placement of the
solid metal spherical object was recorded and drawn.
14. Step 13 was repeated for ten times in order to obtain ten samples.
15. STOP option was pressed for stop the looping and program execution.
 CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

4.1 Result and Discussion

In this lab experiment, there are two part have been conducted which is related to the
RHINO robot. The first experiment was as introduction to the construction of the RHINO
robot and how it is working and how to use the console in order to send control command to
the Rhino robot XR-3.whereas, the second part has focused on how to use Robot Talk
programming software.

4.1.1 Part A: Identify the major system element, equipment and tool in the Rhino
Robot System

In this part , all the background of Rhino robot XR-3 have been done by referring to
the books that attached with it. Table 2 shows the performance of each part of Rhino robot
XR-3 such as wheel rotation, drive linkage motor gear ratio and so on.

Table 2: Construction and operation of XR-3 robotic arm

Identification drive final

Wheel rotation motor gear ratio
letter linkage reduction
waist CW, Right F Chain 65.5/1 262/1
shoulder CW, Right E Chain 65.5/1 524/1
elbow CW, Right D Chain 65.5/1 524/1
wrist flex CW, Left C Chain 65.1/1 524/1
wrist
CW, Left B Gear 96/1 384/1
rotation
1s to open and 1s to
gripper A Gear 96/1 N/A
close
 As shown in Table 2, the construction and operations of XR-3 robotic arm were explored
from the manual notes in the laboratory. Then those values of wheel rotation, drive linkage,
motor gear ratio, final reduction and identification letters were tested on the arm its self. The
process and performance of the arm was understood by each member in the group and every
one had a portion of time to test it and handle it using the console. The main concentration
was on the work space, trajectory, speed and accuracy of the operation.

4.1.2 Part B (i): Manipulate and Control of Rhino Robot XR-3 Movement with Teach
Pendant or Console

In this part, the teaching function is used with connected to robot talk software
program. In this experiment, the picking up and placing the spherical object has done by
repeating this task 10 times. The time of picking one spherical object is recorded from started
point until end point, based on that recorded data that illustrated in table 2, the percentage
error, mean and over all accuracy is found as follow.

The object diameter =3.2cm

Percentage = 100-error %

The overall accuracy = 982.52/1000 = 0.9825

= 98.25 x 100 %.

Mean time = 10.802 seconds.

 Table 3: Performance of the system

Repeatability Percentage (%) Time Error

1 100 10.88 0
2 96.88 10.79 0.1
3 100 10.79 0
4 99.06 10.8 0.03
5 99.38 10.84 0.02
6 95.94 10.83 0.13
7 96.88 10.76 0.1
8 98.44 10.76 0.05
9 99.06 10.72 0.02
10 96.88 10.85 0.1

Table 3 illustrates the repeatability of the robot arm`s performance. The accuracy was
calculated based on the data collected from 10 time operations. From that data the accuracy
was excellent which reflect in excellent reliability. In this part, there was another apparatus to
be used for using Rhino arm which is robot programming software. Group members had
tried this technique also to write the steps saved from the console in the software. During this
process the overall mechanism of Rhino was understood be everyone then all of us were able
to done the task for evaluation perfectly.
4.1.3 Part B (ii): Manipulate and Control of Rhino Robot XR-3 Movement with
RoboTalk Programming Software

Figure 8: RoboTalk movement programming (a).

Figure 9: RoboTalk movement programming (b).
 CHAPTER 5

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

The table is shown that the coordinates in graph paper for same object in same operation of
Rhino XR-3 which is placing the same spherical object repeatedly to one location.

Table 3: Coordinate of coordinates in graph paper.

X-Coordinates of Y-Coordinates of
Test
center, X (unit) center, Y (unit)
Original 15 15
1 15 15.5
2 15 15
3 15 16
4 15 14
5 15 15
6 15 16
7 15 15
8 15 15
9 15 16
10 16 14
The center of the object is marked in every single graph paper. The black dot is a reference
point which is (0,0) as origin. The coordinate of first center and original test is (15,13). This
method is repeatedly used to measure the center for the rest of drawings.

(15,13
)

(0,0
)

(12.5,15
)

(0,0
)

The distance is measured based on the difference between the center of original drawing and
the center of new drawing.

X, Distance X Y, Distance Y
Time
Test = X new – X (Xn- µ) 2
= Y new – Y (Yn- µ)2
(s)
old old
1 10.5 0 0.01 0.5 0.13
2 11.0 0 0.01 0 0.02
3 10.9 0 0.01 1 0.72
4 11.2 0 0.01 -1 1.32
5 11.1 0 0.01 0 0.02
6 11.0 0 0.01 1 0.72
7 10.8 0 0.01 0 0.02
8 10.7 0 0.01 0 0.02
9 10.7 0 0.01 1 0.72
10 10.9 1 0.81 -1 1.32
 0−2.5−1.5−0.5−1.5−1.5−2.0−2.0−2.0−0
Mean of distance error for X-axis, 𝜇𝑥 = 10

= 0.1
0.5+1−1+1+1−1
Mean of distance error for Y-axis, 𝜇𝑦 = 10

= 0.15

Centre point with mean of distance error,

(𝜇𝑥 + 𝑋 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝜇𝑦 + 𝑌 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟) = ( 0.1 + 15, 0.15+15 )

= (15.1,15.15)

Standard deviation of each test can be calculated by the following equation:

∑(𝑋1 − 𝜇1 )2
𝜎=√
𝑁

Standard deviation for distance error in X-axis can be obtained:

0.9
𝜎1 = √
10

𝜎1 = 0.3

Standard deviation of distance error in Y-axis can be obtained:

5.01
𝜎2 = √
10

𝜎2 = 0.707

In this experiment, a RHINO XR-3 robot is used to pick and place a spherical object on a
graph paper. The experiment has the repeatability of 10 times. The RHINO robot can be
programmed it with same algorithm of codes. 10 graphic papers with 10 different object’s
locations are carried out as an evidence for the reliability of this experiment. From the result
collected, the standard deviation of y-axis distance error is higher than standard deviation of
x-axis distance error. As a result, the repeatability and accuracy for the X-axis trajectory
motion has higher value than the Y-axis trajectory motion. The slight misplace of the object
for different test is found and it caused the repeatability and accuracy dropped. This can be
emphasized as because the record of time taken for the operation are varied thus affected the
whole process.
 CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In conclusion, the objective that has been stated for the experiment has been achieved.
The identification of the architecture of the Rhino Robot XR-3 has enables the team to learn
more about the Rhino Robot XR-3. The importance of the understanding the architecture of
the Rhino Robot offers the real way of planning of the overall experiment. In the first part of
the experiment where the team is provided with a Rhino Robot manual, team member are
able to characterizing the Rhino Robot by their specific part. The manual has provided a clear
view of the Rhino Robot, where all the specification of the part is stated inside to be
exploring by the user. Furthermore, in the second part of the experiment, the team has to
program the Rhino Robot in performing the task given, the team member are required to uses
the teach pendant or using the RoboTalk software to manipulate the movement of the Rhino
Robot. From that, team member has the opportunity to program the Rhino Robot and able to
analyze the performance, accuracy and repeatability of the robot based on the specific task.
Throughout the experiment, the team will have the experience to manipulate a robot, where it
is a useful knowledge for their future job acquisition in the industrial where robot is the
common application that being use in most of the field.
 REFERENCES

[1] Forening, D. R. (2008). Definition of a robot. IEEE Robotic Conference, 25

[2] LTD., R. R. (2008). RHINO ROBOTICS LTD. . Retrieved 2015, from MODEL XR-3:
http://www.rhinorobotics.com/xr3_flyer.html